When the Washington Supreme Court gutted protections for religious employers in a state antidiscrimination law, it threw down the gauntlet against both federal law and several federal appeals courts, according to Seattle’s Union Gospel Mission (UGM).
While in grave danger under the new rule of the Taliban in Afghanistan, the Afghan church is understood to be standing firm in the faith and hopeful for spiritual revival in their country, Global Catalytic Ministries (GCM) has reported on its Facebook page. GCM is a Christian organization dedicated to “Discipling Muslims in Restricted-Access Nations to Jesus Christ,” and is in close contact with the underground church in Afghanistan.
Having refused to renounce his faith in Christ, a pastor in India’s Uttar Pradesh state was forced into hiding after a mob of 100 Hindu nationalists accused him of forcibly converting people to Christianity, International Christian Concern reports.
More than 2,700 Church leaders in Australia have signed a declaration addressed to Prime Minister Scott Morrison, expressing their opposition to the proposed introduction of a COVID-19 ‘vaccine passport’ into Australian society. Titled, the Ezekiel Declaration, the letter attests that the passport policy is “untenable” and would “inflict terrible consequences” on Australia.
There was mounting concern Friday about the plight of devoted Christians in eastern Ukraine after pro-Russian separatists reportedly banned more Christian books.
More than 1,000 desperate Christians have been flown from Afghanistan after American radio host Glenn Beck and a group he founded raised millions of dollars to rescue them, organizers said Wednesday.
China’s communist authorities have jailed four Christian businessmen for selling audio Bibles amid a government crackdown on Christians engaged in “illegal” faith-related activities, trial observers told Worthy News.
Rights groups, including Release International, are warning that the persecution of Christians in Afghanistan will likely intensify now the Taliban have taken power and the US and NATO have withdrawn, Christian Today (CT) reports. The Afghan church had been driven underground by Islamic apostasy laws even before the Taliban takeover, but the situation is now reported to be “dire.”
As Fulani jihadists continue their sustained campaign of terror attacks against Christians in Nigeria, they have now attacked and destroyed a Christian orphanage in the country’s Plateau state, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports.
Amid anti-Christian propaganda from the oppressive North Korean Kim regime, North Koreans are still hearing the truth of the gospel through a partnership between ICC (International Christian Concern) and FNKR (Free North Korea Radio.)
As part of its ongoing and systematic suppression of Christianity in China, the ruling Chinese Communist Party last month arrested five Christians from Shanxi Province last because they had attended a Christian conference in Malaysia last year, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports. According to ICC, Beijing is “paranoid” about Chinese Christians being in contact with believers overseas.
Iran’s judiciary has granted itself powers that will likely make life substantially more harsh for Christian converts who are already persecuted in this predominantly Islamic country, International Christian Concern reports.
Christian evangelist Hatun Tash says she survived a knife attack by a suspected Muslim in London “thanks to God’s grace.”
As China’s Communist Party (CCP) regime continues its policy of “Sinicizing” the church, on July 11 government security officials raided a Guangdong province church as its leaders preached an online service through Zoom, International Christian Concern reports. China ranks 17 on the US Open Doors Watch List of top 50 countries where Christians are persecuted.
Belarus has detained a Christian missionary as part of a massive crackdown on those deemed dangerous to the government, Christians told Worthy News.
Christian rights groups have recorded 154 incidents of persecution against believers in India for the first half of 2021 alone, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports. Persecution against Indian Christians has intensified since the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party came to power in 2014.
Three former Muslims in Iran are the first Christians to be given prison sentences under Article 500, a new amendment to Iran’s penal code that aims to block the spread of the Gospel in the country, Morning Star News reports. Iran ranks 8 on the US Open Doors Watch List of countries that persecute Christians.
In the latest act of violent persecution against Christians in Uganda, Islamic extremists burned a pastor to death on June 30, leaving a note by his remains saying: ‘Your enmity to Islam is what you have reaped,’ Morning Star News reports.
A pastor in India’s Haryana state was beaten to death on June 30 after sharing the “love and forgiveness of Christ” with a man who then murdered him, Morning Star News reports. India ranks 10 on the US Open Doors Watch List of countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian.
As Islamic militants continue the slaughter of Christians in Nigeria, suspected Fulani Muslim militants murdered a Christian doctor in Niger state and 17 other Christians in Plateau state this month, International Christian Concern reports. At least 1500 Christians have been killed by Islamic militants this year alone; the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) said in its 2021 annual report that Nigeria has become a “killing field for Christians.”